Radhuspladsen 1
Tel. 33 66 25 82
Subway: Central Station
Bus: 2A, 5A, 6A, 10, 12, 14, 26, 29, 33, 67, 68, 69, 173E, 250S
Tower: Open: 11am & 2pm Mon- Fri, noon Sat
World Clock:
Open: 8:30am- 4:30pm Mon- Fri, 10am- 1pm Sat
Official site
Copenhagen City Hall or Rådhus is located on City Hall Square in
Copenhagen.
It was designed by the architect Martin Nyrop,
who was inspired by the Town Hall in Siena, Italy. He won a
competition and the town hall was built from 1892 to 1905. The town
hall was dedicated on September 12, 1905. The master masons were
H.O. Rasmussen and Olaus Mynster. Copenhagen's Town Hall is the
masterpiece of national romanticism in Denmark.
The town hall
is dominated by the impressive facade, the golden statue of Absalon
just above the balcony and the tall slender tower. The Town Hall
Tower is one of the tallest buildings in Copenhagen (105.6 m), and
the sound of the large tower clock's bells is heard every day at
12:00 on Danmarks Radio (DR) - as well as every New Year's Eve at
00:00.
The transmission at 12:00 in DR was replaced by a tape
recording from 8 February 2003.
Surrounding the hall are the
civic representatives' meeting room, the wedding hall and the
municipality's banquet hall.
In the middle of the town hall
is the Rådhushaven, which is publicly accessible from H.C. Andersens
Boulevard in the summer period. This replaced a garden along the
entire facade of the town hall towards the then Vester Boulevard,
which disappeared in the early 1950s, when the boulevard was
rearranged in connection with the new Langebro, when the boulevard
was also named after the poet.
The glass mosaic above the
entrance door, which shows Copenhagen's city coat of arms, was
donated and executed by master glazier August Duvier. The dates of
the signature are partly for the issuance of Copenhagen's privileges
(24 June 1661) and partly for the inauguration of the town hall
The town hall contains Jens Olsen's World Clock.
Before Copenhagen City Hall moved to City Hall Square,
it was located in different locations. Copenhagen's first town hall was
located at Gammeltorv. The second town hall is the current Bispegård on
the corner of Nørregade and Studiestræde, which was taken over by the
University of Copenhagen in 1479. The third town hall was located at
Gammeltorv/Nytorv from approx. 1479 to the one burned down in 1728
during the Copenhagen fire.
The fourth town hall was built in
1728 and was designed by J.C. Ernst and J.C. Warrior. On Gammeltorv you
can see where the two town halls stood, as they are marked with tiles
where their foundations were. The fourth town hall burned in 1795.
It was not until 1815 that the fifth was built on Nytorv with both
the town hall and the courthouse. This building still stands today and
houses Copenhagen City Council. It functioned as a town hall until 1903.
Seen from Rådhuspladsen, the city hall consists of
three cross-aligned building bodies, connected by two longitudinal ones
at Vester Voldgade and H.C. Andersens Boulevard. Between the three
buildings facing each other are the covered Town Hall and the Town Hall
Garden.
The town hall tower is located on the long side facing
Vester Voldgade, next to the middle cross building. The dove tower is in
the opposite longitudinal wing at H.C. Andersens Boulevard. In front of
the town hall is a forecourt before the town square itself and along
H.C. Andersens Boulevard a green area which was a larger garden at
Vestre Boulevard.
The town hall is connected via tunnels to a
boiler house behind the fire station and Vartov. The last one is
blinded.